¹³ Jesus went up on a mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve and called them apostles. He appointed them to be with him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to throw out demons. (Mark 3:13-15, CEB)

There is a sacredness to our calling. We can get caught up in the “stuff” of ministry. We can be consumed by the expectations of others.

As I spoke with a worship leader a couple of weeks ago, he stated the painfully obvious temptation: “We have to put rear ends in the seats.”

The expectations and the temptations are huge. Others are running “big numbers” and you may not be in your ministry. You might “have numbers” but the pressures don’t go away.

There are times we simply need to remember the call of our Lord. The call to pastor is sacred and we need to return to those holy moments in our lives. They are precious.

The first call of Jesus to the ones he would call apostles is this: be with him. The other stuff will come. Just be with him.

Get his agenda. He knows what he wants to do with his church. Your calling is precious to him. Rekindle that incredible love and joy you sensed when the Lord pointed to you and said, “Let’s do this.”

Be with him. There is no greater priority.